I have yet to recover from Clare's birthday party on Saturday. But what fun we had. As I've mentioned before, our theme for the party was Peter Rabbit. The venue was Green Spring Gardens, which offers a Beatrix Potter birthday (as well as other themes) with their children's education director. The garden was doing a lot of the work for the party, so I concentrated on the food. On Friday afternoon I began baking. I started with lavender madeleine cookies, which were to be part of the party favors. The recipe was from the website of Susan Wittig Albert, who wrote the Beatrix Potter mysteries. They were appropriate favors because madeleines are our favorite cookies and, of course, Peter Rabbit's mother dealt in lavender. We've been huge fans of lavender as well since our trip to a lavender farm with Nicole last summer.

The cookies came out rather tasty, though my husband complained it was like eating a flower (kind of the point, dude). We then began working on the cake. Clare helped me mix enough batter (from a box) for four layers. She then began giving directions for the cake. We had the cake toppers (which were Hallmark ornaments from the late 90s). Clare wanted a fir tree. I attempted to be creative and made a tree from flexible straws covered in icing. Then Clare wanted a road. "A road?" I asked, imagining black asphalt. "A brown road," she corrected. And then I realized what she wanted. This...

Well, this was as close as I could get...

Other food for the party included gluten-free cupcakes (a must these days), Mrs. Tiggy Winkle's Hummus and Cucumber Sandwiches; Squirrel Nutkins Sunbutter Sandwiches; Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail's Blackberries and Other Fruit; Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny's Carrots, Peas and Other Veggies; and Samuel Whisker's Roly Poly Pudding (aka pigs in a blanket). I was very grateful for some pinterest postings that inspired my menu as well as my signs.

At the party itself, the children began by coloring Peter Rabbit coloring sheets as all the children arrived. I should also say that the classroom opened onto the garden, so the children were free to run around the gardens during this time as well. Since the weather was sunny and the temperature was only 70 degrees, many chose to be outside. When most of the children had arrived, they began decorating terra cotta pots to look like rabbits. The garden then provided beautiful zinnias for each pot.

Next the children walked to the vegetable garden. They were each given clipboards with pictures of things to find in the garden--a scavenger hunt of sorts. They all had a great deal of fun hunting for the various items that included onions as well as a hoe and tool shed (referring to the Peter Rabbit story). They then all gathered in the middle of the vegetable garden and read Peter Rabbit.

After our adventures in the vegetable garden, the children ate and sang happy birthday before cutting into the cake. By that point, the two hour window of our party was up, but many families chose to stay and wander around the wonderful gardens and wooded paths.

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I am Sandra Penfield--a one-time lawyer who is now a very happy stay-at-home mom. This blog is about making every day the very best it can be. ​

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